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All 4 removed under IV sedation at 33 years old and doing great so far!

D

duhfraidycat

Junior member
Joined
Mar 14, 2021
Messages
15
Location
Indiana
I had all 4 of my wisdom teeth removed yesterday morning under IV sedation. They couldn't put me completely to sleep because I have sleep apnea and am obese but they put me under enough that I only remember like 1 minute of the procedure and it wasn't scary at all!!! I must have been asleep for the local anesthetic and the pulling. The only thing I remember was them putting the plastic thing in my mouth to hold my jaw open and I remember them putting gauze in at the end. That's it!!!

They moved me to a comfy recliner for recovery, my husband paid the bill and got the post-op instructions (which aren't as thorough as I had hoped so I'm supplementing their instructions with stuff I'm reading online), a bag filled with stuff I needed (list below), and then we headed home.

They sent me home with some gauze, ice packs, a script for Norco, a script for Amoxicillin, and Chlorhexidine mouth rinse. I got the scripts filled but I have not needed the Norco. I've been alternating acetaminophen and ibuprofen every 3 hours (though I took naproxen sodium before bed since it lasts longer) and I've been taking my antibiotic. I use ice 1-2 times per hour for 20 minutes at a time.

I've had very little to no pain. I slept pretty well last night, I only woke up a couple of times because my CPAP mask was leaking (I loosened it because I was worried it would be too tight on my jaw) and because the wedge pillow I got was a bit uncomfortable on my upper back. My face is swollen today but not terribly so. Eating, talking, etc. doesn't hurt. I gently rinsed after breakfast this morning and again after my lunch. I'm nervous about getting food stuck in there, I had cottage cheese with lunch and that seems like a bad idea in retrospect.

I feel incredibly lucky that I haven't had any pain yet. Now I am just on dry socket watch which hopefully won't happen. I've been being extremely careful with everything I do. I'm even cautious with how I swallow lol. I will come back and update over the next few days.
 
It's now been 48 hours and so far, still no pain whatsoever. Literally my only complaint is mild diarrhea from the antibiotics. I called the surgery center and they said I could take Imodium thankfully! I'm back to work today (I work from home so should be an easy transition back), hopefully everything will continue to be this easy.
 
Hi there

First of all huge congratulations on having your treatment. Sounds like things went really well which is fab and great about having little to no pain. In regards to dry socket worry, from reading Post on here it seems very rare, so try to stress about it too much.

Thank you for posting your story and keeping is updated. It’s so helpful for people to read about these great experiences!
 
Hi there

First of all huge congratulations on having your treatment. Sounds like things went really well which is fab and great about having little to no pain. In regards to dry socket worry, from reading Post on here it seems very rare, so try to stress about it too much.

Thank you for posting your story and keeping is updated. It’s so helpful for people to read about these great experiences!

Thank you! I have gained so much from reading the posts on here so it's only fitting that I come share my experience too.

It does seem as though dry socket is rare but I'm at a higher risk because I'm a woman and I'm in my 30s (older = more common from what I've read) but I'm being super duper careful. Now I am mostly concerned about getting food stuck in the sockets. I am not have any issues with pain while eating so I've been trying to eat mostly foods I can chew (pancake bowl thing, cottage cheese, sliced banana, etc.) so I don't develop trismus but of course these foods are more likely to get stuck in the socket. I'm rinsing with salt water VERY gently after eating so hopefully nothing gets stuck.
 
It has officially been 1 week and aside from my anxiety being very high over the past week, my recovery has been amazing. I've had essentially no pain, no complications, and I'm eating softer normal food (I even had McDonald's yesterday!). I think the fact that I only had 1 impacted tooth (upper tooth) made a big difference since the other 3 teeth were just pulled out.

I went back to work (desk job at home) 48 hours after my teeth were removed. I was a little tired that first day but I think that getting back to my normal schedule made recovery go by faster.

Pro tip for those who have to take antibiotics after you get your wisdom teeth removed: take Florastor (a yeast-based probiotic). It does wonders for the gastrointestinal discomfort that antibiotics can cause. I got the kids version because I can't easily swallow pills (I found out later that you can open the capsules for the adult version and mix the powder into water just like the kids version) and it's helped me immensely. Since it's yeast-based, it won't be destroyed by the antibiotic like bacteria-based probiotics will. I also ate yogurt but that didn't help. It wasn't until I started the Florastor that my digestive issues got better.
 
Hi Duhfraidycat, thank you for sharing your dental journey, im so glad it went well. No dry socket right? And a good heads up about probiotic whrn taking an antibiotic

I dont have sleep apnea, I do snore on occasion, I am in good physical health. During evaluation with the anesthesiologist I was told that I have a short airway and will be given light IV sedation during my Root planning & scaling, she promises that I will be asleep and comfortable but if any breathing issues occur she will halt the procedure and wake me. Im terrified but reading your story helped to ease my fear level. Thank you

We are all in this together, hopefully conquering our fears, and helping each other to get thru it.

Peace & love
 
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